In a quiet corner of Magallanes, Chef Rowen Amurao serves bold, heartfelt dishes that defy expectations—guided by instinct, shaped by experience, and grounded in soul.
There’s no single moment when Chef Rowen Amurao fell in love with food. Just a memory: a small town in Quezon during fiesta season. Warm lights strung across the plaza. Kids running barefoot. A table filled with embutido and menudo. Chef Rowen and his team cook with heart, making each dish an expression of their culinary passion.
“It was the kind of day where everyone shared food, even with people you didn’t know,” he says. “It just felt… complete.”
For Rowen, food has always been tied to emotion. His first mentor wasn’t a chef, but his late aunt, who cooked for him when his parents worked away. “She didn’t just feed me—she made me feel at home.”
Still, it wasn’t until Melbourne that he realized food could be more than comfort. “I slowly found my passion there,” he says. “Melbourne taught me about flavors—but it also taught me how to live.”
His journey included a U.S. internship, a stint at La Cabrera in Manila, and years in Australia’s dynamic kitchens like Rockpool and Supernormal. “Australia’s food scene is wild,” he says. “So many cultures. You’d see flavors that shouldn’t work together—but they do.”
That openness became central to his food. At Casuals, the dishes balance surprise and subtlety. “Some dishes shout, others whisper,” he says. “I like the ones that whisper—where the ingredients lead.”
Australia also shifted his mindset. “I started camping, fishing. I stopped rushing. Life’s already fast. Better to savor it.”
Casuals Resto is his quiet rebellion. The place, it’s a stripped-down, chef-built space—concrete floors, framed graphic art, books, empty wine bottles on the shelves. Slightly rebellious. Surprisingly warm.
“I’m just as comfortable doing tagay by the riles as I am pairing wine with plated food,” he says. “My cooking reflects that.”
With no big launch or hype engine, he opened Casuals. Just instinct and belief. “All I have is balls,” he laughs. “My dad helped build it. Everything you see—we planned and made.”
In the kitchen, he leads with calm. “We joke, we talk. I want a happy kitchen.” He mentors cooks through curiosity, not ego. “You can teach technique. You can’t teach fire.”
Though trained abroad, he’s reconnecting with local ingredients. Etag, the smoked pork from the Cordilleras, fascinates him. His take on kinilaw—mackerel, coconut vinegar, cucumber, crisp rice paper—quietly reimagines tradition.
“I want people to see that vegetables can be stars. That Filipino flavors can evolve without losing soul.”
He’s not chasing clout. He wants to create space—for risk, for honesty, for younger chefs to cook with heart. Still, ideas bubble: a concept focused on shellfish and crustaceans might be next.
For now, Casuals is enough. A space that doesn’t try to impress—only to express. Where flavor leads, and comfort comes with edge.
Visit Casuals
A laid-back, produce-forward restaurant where comfort meets quiet rebellion.
Unit 203 2F Paseo de Magallanes Oakridge Plaza, Makati City
Instagram: @casuals.dining
